Afternoon summary
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has said she will chair a meeting of the government’s Defending Democracy taskforce next week in response to the “alarming rise” in harassment, intimidation and abuse towards candidates and campaigners. (See 3.57pm.)
Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, said this morning that the government wants “far more light, far less heat” in political debate in the UK. (See 9.50am.)
Ben Houchen, the Conservative Tees Valley mayor, has urged potential leadership candidates not to copy Reform UK. (See 1.49pm.) A major report into the views of people voting in the general election has backed this analysis, suggesting that adopting Reform UK policies would not attract enough voters for the Tories to win an election. (See 2.12pm.)
Updated
Corbyn and 4 other pro-Palestinian MPs urge Lammy to adopt new Gaza policy 'as matter of urgency'
Jeremy Corbyn, and the four other independent MPs pushing for Labour to be more pro-Palestinian, have written an open letter to David Lammy, the foreign secretary, demanding 11 steps “as a matter of urgency”.
They are demanding an assurance that the new Labour government will not carry on with the last government’s policy of objecting to the application by the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court for arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli PM, and Yoav Gallant, the Israeli defence minister, as well as Hamas leaders. It has been reported that the Labour will not withdraw the UK’s objection.
I have joined other independent MPs in writing to the Foreign Secretary, reminding him of the government's obligations under international law.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 15, 2024
That involves dropping any legal challenge over the ICC's application for an arrest warrant of Israeli's PM Benjamin Netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/Fz4WyIXQTe
I have joined other independent MPs in writing to the Foreign Secretary, reminding him of the government’s obligations under international law.
That involves dropping any legal challenge over the ICC’s application for an arrest warrant of Israeli’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Among other demands, the MPs also want the UK to resume funding Unrwa, the UN relief agency which lost support from some countries after some of its staff were accused of being involved in the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.
During his visit to Israel today, Lammy told ITV that he would make an announcement about Unrwa to parliament shortly “in the appropriate way”. The government has said that it wants to abide by the convention that important announcements are made to parliament first.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy tells @emmamurphyitv he will make a statement to Parliament in the coming says on British funding to UNRWA
— ITV News Politics (@ITVNewsPolitics) July 15, 2024
Funding was cut in January after claims some staff had taken part in the October 7 attacks - but a review found no evidence of Hamas links pic.twitter.com/vKUEbmwkym
The Foreign Office has not responded to the report claiming Lammy will stick with the previous government’s stance on the ICC arrest warrant applications. In May, speaking in the Commons, he criticised the then government’s position, saying “Labour’s position is that the decision by the international criminal court chief prosecutor to apply for arrest warrants is an independent matter for the court and the prosecutor”.
The other four MPs who have signed the letter are: Adnan Hussain, Ayoub Khan, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam. They all defeated Labour candidates, in seats with many Muslim voters that Labour was expected to win, by campaigning primarily on Gaza. Corbyn, the former Labour leader, also won as an indepedent, but he was re-elected in a seat he has represented since 1983, and Gaza was probably not the main reason why he was successful.
